RT
September 18, 2012
A lone appeals judge bowed down to the Obama administration late
Monday and reauthorized the White House’s ability to indefinitely detain
American citizens without charge or due process.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that
an temporary injunction on section 1021 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 must be made permanent,
essentially barring the White House from ever enforcing a clause in the
NDAA that can let them put any US citizen behind bars indefinitely over
mere allegations of terrorist associations. On Monday, the US Justice Department asked for
an emergency stay on that order, and hours later US Court of Appeals
for the Second Circuit Judge Raymond Lohier agreed to intervene and
place a hold on the injunction.
The stay will remain in effect until at least September 28, when a three-judge appeals court panel is expected to begin addressing the issue.
On December 31, 2011, US President Barack Obama signed the NDAA into law, even though he insisted on accompanying that authorization with a statement explaining his hesitance to essentially eliminate habeas corpus for the American people.
“The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it,” President Obama wrote.
“In particular, I have signed this bill despite having serious
reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention,
interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists.”
A lawsuit against
the administration was filed shortly thereafter on behalf of Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges and others, and Judge Forrest agreed with
them in district court last week after months of debate. With the stay
issued on Monday night, however, that justice’s decision has been
destroyed.
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